Mich. firefighters' fund for cancer has no money

Capt. Stephen Babcock, a member of the Lansing Fire Department's Emergency Management Division and a public information officer, died Feb. 3, 2016 after what the department called "a short but hard fight" against non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was 65.(Photo: Family photo)

DETROIT — When firefighter Stephen Babcock found out he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in October, his costs to fight the illness should have been covered.

State lawmakers had passed a bill that was supposed to protect firefighters who fell ill with 10 types of cancer that likely stem from on-the-job exposure to carcinogens. Those firefighters were supposed to have their lost wages covered as well.

But it turned out that lawmakers never actually set aside any money.

This month, partly thanks to a new round of pressure from about 300 firefighters who gathered in Lansing last week, the state Senate has scheduled a vote on a bill that would finally provide roughly $4 million in funding for the next two years for those workers compensation claims. The bill is expected to pass, but it will then head to the House, where the timeline is less clear.

Yet these legislative actions were too late to help pay for Babcock's expenses. Instead, Babcock, who was also the spokesman for the Lansing Fire Department, got cancer treatment through his health insurance plan, and paid the remaining expenses out of pocket. In early February, Babcock died.

“It was just like a slap in the face,” said his wife, Mary Babcock. “It’s just frustrating.”

When it comes to obvious on-the-job injuries like broken bones, firefighters’ health care costs and lost wages are normally covered under workers compensation laws. But illnesses like cancer can be harder to connect to fighting fires, even though research has shown that firefighters are much more likely to contract cancer than the average person.

In Michigan, firefighters had to prove that the cancer came from a specific fire to get workers comp benefits. That's nearly impossible to prove, since the true risk comes from repeated exposure, said Mark Docherty, president of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union.

“The reality is, every fire we go in, we’re exposed to carcinogens,” said Docherty. “There’s no protective equipment to protect us from exposures.”

The state policy changed in January 2015, when Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill that would amend the workers compensation rules to cover 10 types of cancer shown to affect firefighters at greater rates: cancers of the respiratory tract, bladder, skin, brain, kidney, blood, thyroid, testicular, prostate or lymphatic cancer.

Yet even as Snyder signed the measure to create the First Responders Presumed Coverage Reimbursement Fund, he voiced concerns that there was no long-term source of revenue to support it.

“This bill creates a system where an important benefit would be available first-come-first-serve, and only when funds are available,” Snyder said at the time.

Snyder spokesman Ari Adler re-emphasized those concerns in a Sunday email and added: “If the Legislature can find a way to add this item into the budget for next year, the governor is open to that discussion.”

Meanwhile nine firefighters, including Babcock, have contracted cancer but could not get their worker's comp claims funded since the original bill was signed.

“Everybody celebrated that they got this (fund) passed, but it doesn't exist,” said Docherty. “By not putting (in) any money, they broke their promise.”

In recent weeks, there has been a new push to provide some cash in the short term. Michigan Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, said he submitted a bill that would add the roughly $4 million to the fund. After about 300 firefighters filled the Senate gallery last week to demand the bill's passing, it is expected to get Senate approval Wednesday. The bill would likely grant $1 million this year, along with $3 million for next year's budget, Docherty said.

It's unclear when the House might take up the bill, though budget discussions are usually finished by June, Docherty said.

“The Legislature made a promise to these firefighters, and at every turn they’ve been denied," Hertel said.

Michigan is not the only state to struggle with helping firefighters who battle cancer. A September article in The Atlantic reported that 14 states still don’t have workers comp policies that acknowledge a strong connection between cancer and fighting fires, even though The Atlantic also reported that "cancer is the leading cause of firefighter line-of-duty deaths in the United States."

“Our expectation as firefighters is that we know there’s risk in every fire we go into,” Docherty said. “But we also want to know that if we take that risk, we’re going to be taken care of if we’re injured doing it. That’s what we’re asking for — that we be taken care of. And that’s not happening.”